Jed Perl’s “Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts” is useful in showing the problems with thinking of social justice as inherent to serious art rather than one of many forms it may take. - The New York Times
"Eva B, once a little-known rapper from (a) Karachi urban-slum settlement" — and who now draws millions of viewers on YouTube — "says her brother had told her if she wanted to rap she had to wear a veil, but that it is now a part of her identity and personality as a musician." - The Guardian
The Academy is coming off as “the absolute most insecure girl at the party.” Babe, you’re the Oscars. You should be the most confident person in the room. Why do you keep doing yourself like this? - The Daily Beast
"Have reports of the death of the sex scene been greatly exaggerated? And, considering that just about any kind of erotic behavior can be viewed with a click, what do we still want from a sex scene, anyway?" Four New Yorker critics puzzle it out together. - The New Yorker
Whereas historians aim to create a relatively objective account of the past using rigorous professional standards of what counts as evidence, when members of a community recall their collective past, they do so through the filter of a contemporary set of concerns. - Psyche
A controversy over Spain's entry to this year's Eurovision Song Contest — the Spanish jurors rejected the audience's and international jurors' choice, which was in Galician, in favor of a song in Castilian Spanish — is a reminder that there are plenty of legitimate languages without national flags and borders. - The Economist
For 84 years the museum, built with private funds, paid $1 annual rent for land in a city park. But a new law calls for the museum to pay part of fair market rental value and to accept 60 days' notice for lease termination. The museum is resisting. - Idaho Statesman
After an outcry from those who thought the Courtauld was mocking mental illness and psychosis for fun and profit, the museum removed the erasers and the soap bar "for the tortured artist who enjoys fluffy bubbles" from its inventory. (The emotional first-aid kit remains in stock.) - Artnet
Among the major findings are that roughly two-thirds of dance professors (both full-time and part-time) and four-fifths of program coordinators are women, but two-thirds of deans of dance are men. - Dance Data Project
"O'Rourke was one of the most quoted writers in America, dissecting US politics and culture with a withering disdain and a powerful line in put-downs – often laced with a warm, self-deprecating humanity." A frequent magazine contributor and talk-show guest, he was once Rolling Stone's foreign affairs correspondent. - The Guardian
A research report titled "Future Fringe" says that the world's biggest theatre and arts festival suffers from a lack of clear lines of authority and accountability, no "common set of standards", a growth-at-all-costs mentality, and a "pay-to-perform landscape." - The Scotsman
"The family of Halyna Hutchins … has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec Baldwin, the film's production companies, its producers, and other members of the crew. Hutchins was fatally shot last October during a rehearsal … when Baldwin practiced a draw with a revolver and fired the weapon." - CNN
The extravaganza, prosaically titled American Song Contest, will see musicians from all 50 states, five US territories and Washington DC compete against each other, in a format borrowed from its long-running European cousin. - The Guardian
The Kennedy Center’s mission statement says that one of its three pillars is “presenting, producing, and curating world-class art.” In theater, it’s relying these days far more on curating. - Washington Post
The story of what happened when costumers tried to instigate reform is a tale of the frustrations and barriers to progress that exist in many Hollywood unions. But it also offers glimmers of hope. - Los Angeles Times
